Cadets Made to Sing the 'Century of Turkey' March at Graduation Ceremony... Here Are the Images!..

What happened to the 5 lieutenants and 3 commanders?

At the Military Academy graduation ceremonies, the Officer's Oath, which had been part of the regulations for exactly 25 years, was being recited. In 2023, the directive regarding this was changed, and the Officer's Oath was removed. Instead, it was decided that the military oath taken upon first stepping into the military barracks would be recited for a second time.

However, top-ranking graduate of the Military Academy, Lieutenant Ebru Eroğlu, and her friends wanted to recite the Officer's Oath at this year's graduation ceremony as well. Their application to their commanders for this was rejected with the words, "It is not in the directive. It will not be recited." They complied with the orders and did not recite the Officer's Oath.

As soon as the official ceremony ended and Erdoğan left the parade ground, while some lieutenants were embracing their families, others gathered together to recite the Officer's Oath with the traditional sword-crossing ritual, saying, "We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal."

And that is when the apocalypse (!) broke out. Erdoğan asked, "Who are you drawing those swords at?"... Ministry of National Defense (MSB) officials took action to dismiss Ebru Eroğlu and 4 lieutenants from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) on the grounds that "there is no problem with the content of the Officer's Oath, the sword-crossing, or saying 'We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal.' The problem is that they did not obey their superiors' orders and committed an act of indiscipline."

On the other hand, the three commanders of the lieutenants were also referred to the MSB High Disciplinary Board to be dismissed from the TSK on the accusation that "they did not give any orders regarding this for after the official ceremony."

As is known, on Thursday, the lieutenants and their lawyers made their final defense at the Land Forces Command High Disciplinary Board.

In the news report we wrote after the board meeting concluded, we conveyed that during the defenses, Attorney Mustafa Güler voiced the following claim:

"The lieutenants are being tried for reciting an oath that is not in the directive after the official ceremony ended. However, during the official ceremony, the 'Century of Turkey' march, which is not in the directive, was made to be sung. If there is a violation of the directive, the National Defense University should judge itself first."

We later learned that Attorney Güler said exactly the following:

"Do you know that the only activity at the ceremony that is contrary to the directive is the fact that the 'Century of Turkey' march was made to be sung, even though it is not in the directive? If an act contrary to the directive is being sought, the National Defense University administration itself has committed it. They had the march, which is not in the directive, sung simply because it is politically pleasing."

For some reason, this claim did not attract attention, and no one asked, "Is it true or false?"

IMAGE WITH THE AK PARTY LOGO

We have been talking about the Officer's Oath and the lieutenants for 5 months, but we had neither heard nor seen until today that the 'Century of Turkey' march was sung at the same ceremony. Naturally, we pursued it.

We found the 1-hour and 20-minute video of the Military Academy graduation ceremony, which has the AK Party logo on it and says "Republic of Turkey Presidency" at the end.

And we saw that the lieutenants started singing this march after the Military Academy March, following the announcer's introduction of the "Centennial March" (at the 55th minute and 36th second).

Why is this important?

We explained above that the reason for wanting to dismiss the lieutenants and commanders from the TSK was "that they recited an oath not included in the legislation, even if it was after the official ceremony, and that this was not prevented."

The 'Century of Turkey' march is also not in the National Defense University Military Academies and Vocational Schools Graduation Ceremony Regulation, which was last updated on March 29, 2023, and from which the Officer's Oath was removed. Because this march was introduced by the Presidency on August 30, 2023.

There you go, a clear violation of the regulations. And in the official part of the graduation ceremony, in the presence of Erdoğan!..

I wonder what our authorities have to say about this?!

BELIEVING IN "WHAT SOME GUY WROTE"

There are other things we need to talk about in the lieutenants' case.

For example, Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler, in response to a question regarding the claim that "fake minutes were kept about the Atatürkist lieutenants" at the AKP Parliamentary Group Meeting last week, replied:

"My brother, they are appearing before a disciplinary board. The people there are examining everything. Do you believe everything that is written and drawn? You don't believe what we say, but you believe what some guy wrote there. Then you will ask him whether it is true or not. We have said everything we are going to say."

Minister Güler uses the expression "some guy"; however, the 12 lawyers of the lieutenants not only revealed that it was understood that the incident report dated August 30 was prepared later with the statements of those who signed this report themselves, but they also determined that "documents were removed from the file and the lieutenants' reporting officers were pressured to change their opinions," and filed a criminal complaint with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Another example; again, the lieutenants' lawyers said that those images of the lieutenants were taken on the instructions of the National Defense University Rector Prof. Erhan Afyoncu. In the statement of the National Defense University regarding this, while the expression "persons who declare themselves as lawyers for the lieutenants referred to the High Disciplinary Board and some journalists" was used, it was claimed that "the purpose of these allegations and accusations is to discredit the National Defense University, to direct the ongoing investigation, and to divert it from its course."

But according to the Administrative Investigation Report, the person who voiced this claim was none other than the Deputy Dean of the Military Academy, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arif Sarı. In his statement, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sarı said, "When the voices of the group rose, our rector, Prof. Dr. Erhan Afyoncu, who had gone outside to see off our President, called me on the phone and said, 'Are you in the stands?' After I said 'Yes', he said, 'Follow what is happening on the field.' I then sent the photographer waiting in the stands to the field and told him to record the events."

AND WHAT ABOUT THE QUESTIONS ASKED TO LIEUTENANT İZZET AKARSU?

Again, after the High Disciplinary Board meeting on Thursday, we emphasized that in the defense of Talip İzzet Akarsu, the senior cadet among the lieutenants whose dismissal is requested, he explained that Lieutenant Ebru's statements were distorted, that one of his interrogations lasted 8 hours, and that he was asked questions "off-the-record" such as, "Do you believe in Deism?.. Can female cadets pray?.. How do they pray?"

Let us ask once again: what do our authorities have to say about this interrogation and these questions?

On this occasion, let us also convey other parts of Lieutenant Talip İzzet Akarsu's defense. He said;

"None of these caused a drop in my motivation. I draw this from the upright stance shown in the past by our commanders who suffered all kinds of hardships before us and lost their lives in return for their love for the homeland. I am the only person in my class who has served as a squad, platoon, company, battalion, and regiment senior at the Military Academy. With the approval of the Ministry of National Defense, I went to the International Military Students week in Georgia and was appreciated by the Georgian Academy for the success I showed in the shooting and sports competitions held there. My final words are these. Following in the footsteps of the Great Leader Atatürk and inspired by his words, 'The value of an army is measured by the value of its officer and commander staff,' I tried to be an officer worthy of the homeland and the nation. First and foremost, I am a child of the Turks. I was born with honor, I will live with honor, and I will die with honor."

WILL YOU BE ALI RIZA PASHA OR ZÜLÜFLÜ İSMAİL PASHA?

Like the lieutenants, their lawyers also made important notes in history in their defenses. One of them, Attorney Mustafa Güler, explained why the lieutenants were targeted as follows:

"The Military Academy is the school that not only established the modern army but also trained the cadres that founded today's Republic of Turkey; the secular, nation-state. Today's Military Academy is also a legacy to us from the generation that founded the Republic. It is a known fact by everyone that those who have a problem with the Republic also have a problem with this school. We have seen this movie not once, but many times. They are trying to do today at every opportunity what they tried to do to the Turkish officer in our recent history with cases like Balyoz, Ergenekon, and military espionage. Those who are trying to pressure political and military authorities today to have the lieutenants dismissed from the army are people with the same mentality as those who set up traps for the national army in the past. The scoundrels who dared to treat the TSK as a terrorist organization to cut the anti-imperialist, Atatürkist path of the Turkish Army that day, and the influence agents who supported them, are today vomiting their anger at the lieutenants' words 'We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal' by saying, 'There is a serious indiscipline here. All the lieutenants should be dismissed.' Those who have a problem with the Republic cannot digest the fact that the lieutenants shouted the words 'How happy is the one who says I am a Turk' with a loud voice. We said from the very beginning, not at the end, that a trap was being set for the national army. Now we say again that a trap is being set for the national army. The reason for the trap set back then was to prepare the ground for the policies of imperialist states in our region. The process called the solution process was on the agenda. Similar things are happening today."

Attorney Güler also addressed the High Disciplinary Board delegation, saying, "You will be written in history either as Ali Rıza Pasha from Kayseri, who saved Mustafa Kemal and his friends from being dismissed from the military, or as Zülüflü İsmail Pasha, who wanted to dismiss them from the army and condemn them to punishment in dungeons."

WHERE DID THE TSK COME FROM AND WHERE IS IT NOW?

Attorney Erhan Tokatlı, addressing the President of the High Disciplinary Board, first said the following:

"Mr. President, you are also a 1984 graduate, you know better than us. When the '84 lieutenants were assaulted in a restaurant in Tuzla, they reported the incident to the Duty Officer. That officer, the late Captain Muzaffer Tekin [who served 5 years in prison in the Ergenekon trap. He contracted pancreatic cancer in prison. He passed away shortly after his release], went to the scene and stood up for the lieutenants. Where have we come from and where are we now? How was it in the past, how is it now?"

Then he noted the following:

"Actually, the subject of the trial or the subject you will decide on is not just about these 5 lieutenants; it is much bigger, much more important. If the officers of the army, whose eternal commander-in-chief is the state founded by Mustafa Kemal, are referred to the High Disciplinary Board with a request for dismissal because they said 'We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal,' the meaning of this is to remove Mustafa Kemal from the TSK. This is the goal. Therefore, the decision you will make is like a barrier, a barricade, a dam in front of the plans for this cause. A dismissal decision to be made will perhaps have removed the last obstacle in front of these floodwaters. There is no turning back or compensation for such a decision. Let us not forget that 'nations that do not love their own soldiers will one day have to feed the armies of other states.' We are putting a note in history in this file; we will all be held accountable before history."

Müyesser YILDIZ

January 20, 2025